Due to legal reasons, the Smurf: Rescue In Gargamel's Castle for the Intellivision project got cancelled, and the game got turned into Sydney Hunter and the Cradle Of Death. Here's a YouTube video if you want to see what it looks like.

Bringing a homebrew game to your favorite retro console is always fun, but having a new homebrew be made available across multiple consoles gives it more of a “modern” feel! Collectorvision has recently been hard at work at making a variety of titles featuring the new treasure hunter known as Sydney Hunter. With what had originally started at “The Mayan’s Revenge” on the original NES, a variety of other game ports featuring our new character, bring him to the “Cradles Of Death” on the Intellivision, and the “Caverns Of Death” for the Super NES, Genesis and Dreamcast! Recently, the people at Collectorvision made available a quick video showing the work in progress on their Dreamcast port, and we wanted to share it with you all, as well as give everyone an update on the important Intellivision port.

Before we bring up the latest video, we wanted to give everyone an update on another story that we had talked about this past March, when we talked about how Collectorvision was teasing about a possible Intellivision port of the ColecoVision title “Smurf: Rescue In Gargamel’s Castle“. In case the screenshots of the Intellivision version of “Sydney Hunter” look a little familiar when compared to the screenshots of “Smurf”, it’s with very good reason. The port of “Smurf” was suddenly canceled and ended production due to “legal” (possibly copyright) issues. However since Collectorvision has since purchased the rights to the engine that was used, they are now able to create a brand new adventure using the same style, which is what this version of “Sydney Hunter” will be based on.

Versions of the game, which feature somewhat different game play, are being developed for other consoles, including the original NES, Super NES, Sega Genesis, and now with the latest announcement, the Sega Dreamcast as well. There is not much known at the moment about the Dreamcast version, other than when compared to the 8-bit and 16-bit counterparts, the 128-bit version may contain higher resolution and perhaps other features not shown off in the versions for more retro consoles. At this time, the final title of the game seems to be still in the works as well. Previously, “Sydney Hunter” always came before either “The Mayan’s Revenge”, “The Cradles Of Death” and most recently, “The Caverns Of Death”. Whether or not the games will have names associated with the consoles they are on, is still unknown.

There is no word on price or when the final versions of the game will be released, however the Intellivision version has been said to be ready for a release either this month or next month. (No word on release time frames for other consoles at this time.) With Collectorvision’s history, we can also expect to see the game released in physical media across all of the other platforms. In addition, those that had pre-ordered “Smurf Rescue” before it was canceled are asked to notify Collectorvision to learn about what to do with the pre-order.

In the early 1980s, young gamers had a Smurfy time with the Atari 2600 and ColecoVision consoles, with the game “Rescue In Gargamel’s Castle” being released for both systems. Back then, there was actually a third port of the simple game planned for the Intellivision platform, which ultimately never came to be. Modern homebrew and port developer Collectorvision has recently given everyone a tease on their official Facebook page, which indicates that they very well may be bringing the classic title a new home on the Intellivision, all these years later.

In “Rescue In Gargamel’s Castle”, the player controls a Smurf (which one is unknown), who must travel through the Smurf forest to rescue Smurfette, who had recently been held captive in Gargamel’s castle. The Smurf must jump over various obstacles like fences, ledges, tables and chairs that are in his way, while avoiding other projectiles such as birds, snakes, spiders, and bats. The top of the screen shows an energy meter, which gradually decreases as Smurf tries to complete every region of the forest. If Smurf finishes a region, a bonus of remaining energy in the meter is added to the player’s score. In the same sense, if a player fails to finish a region before the energy meter runs empty, the Smurf loses a life. When Smurf rescues Smurfette, he is placed back at the start where the level gets longer and the animals get faster and harder to avoid.

While there is no indication that Collectorvision has been working on the new Intellivision port (at least via an official announcement), their Facebook page has shown a set of 9 screenshots that bring the childhood classic to the system, along with the comment of, “Some Intellivision Smurf Rescue anyone?” The screenshots do not show the game in action, however they do show off the background imagery that could be found throughout the game. This could indicate that the game is being considered, but again, no official announcements have been made as of yet.CollectorVision Teases With Possible INTV Port Of Smurf RescuePosted by Peazjelly (Member # 3101) on 07-07-201408:08 AM:

Sydney Hunter and the Shrines of Peril is now currently available as an Android app from Google Play. I downloaded it and sideloaded it onto my Kindle Fire and it plays good, except that I can't get Sydney to jump up to the top pedestal at the end to claim my prize.
Posted by Ariel, The Lost Smurfette (Member # 5345) on 08-17-201608:16 AM: